Coffee Giant Blue Bottle Is Coming to San Diego

Northern California’s Blue Bottle Coffee is finally making its way to San Diego. Founded as a boutique roaster in Oakland in 2002, the company sold a majority stake to Nestlé in 2017 but remains independently operated. Its cafes now span the globe, from the Bay Area to New York, Miami, and Japan.

Blue Bottle will first arrive at One Paseo, the new Carmel Valley complex that’s scheduled to debut in Spring 2019 with an impressive roster of nationally-known eateries that includes Shake Shack, Tender Greens, and Salt & Straw Ice Cream. The One Paseo location will face a central courtyard, with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating; it’ll also function as a barista training lab for the entire region.

Later next year, Blue Bottle will open its second San Diego branch in downtown San Diego where it will be part of Tower 180, a new multi-use office building in development at the corner of First Street and Broadway. Flocke & Avoyer’s Urban Strategies Group represented the landlord in the deal.

The cafes will offer Blue Bottle’s full array of beverages, including espresso drinks, cold brew, and New Orleans-style iced coffee as well as pastries and toasts. Its baristas will also be teaching coffee education classes on coffee brewing techniques and coffee cupping.